Howdy and welcome to the first Quick Reviews of Stupid comics of 2018! Normally these are somewhat weekly, but 2018 isn’t a normal year and also I’ve been busy. Hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of shotgun reviews of books. They’re fun.
Were this 2017 I’d open with something long and stupid because I was drunk, but I’m pretty sober right now. I also don’t have that many books to cover. I guess I’m doing this wrong. Sorry. I’m trying to drink a bit less–new year new years resolution kinda thing–and oddly I’ve picked Friday as the day to do that…I don’t get it either. For some reason, Wednesday and Thursday have turned into my big drinking nights.
Because nothing says fun like dragging your ass to work hungover.
2018.
No 1 With a Bullet #4
N1WAB continues to be a powerhouse of smart social commentary on the internet, personal space, depression, and abuse. What this issue does well is paint the bad guy in a human light. It’s easy to look at a situation and point at the villain and go, “he’s the bad guy fuck him I want him to get hit by rocks and buses” which does happen if you’ve ever gone to Twitter or comment section. Our minds like to make things black-and-white to deal with them easier, because that’s what it is: easier. Life ain’t like that. This issue paints our good guy as broken and our bad guy as a bit broken too. We’re not forgiving him (he’s a shitheel) but we’re seeing remorse that’s genuine. We’re seeing how his actions effect those around him. Life is a series of connections between people, and this comic understands that.
The situation in this book is very black-and-white given what happened. Nash is the victim. The bad guy is the bad guy. Yet the bad guy isn’t Joffery Baratheon. He’s complicated and weak and sorry, and it just adds so much to the situation.
It’s a fantastic story.
I Hate Fairyland #16
On a much lighter note, I Hate Fairyland is back, and it’s doing something I had hoped it would do around issue #6: Bring up Gert’s parents and the idea of her actually succeeding in escaping Fairyland. Unlike the previous installments which are heavy on the humor, this one forgoes a lot of jokes and settles on dark, depressing, and bleak. It’s a nice change of pace to be honest, because it’s an honest look at a very flawed character in a very surreal situation. That it combines that with candy-colored artwork only adds to the flavor.
I want IHF to become more than the joke that it is. I love the book, and I love the humor, but I also love that Scottie is willing to go out of his wheelhouse here and try something new. Will things circle back? Yeah. Issue 10 basically ended on a Terminator-style time loop that Gert is stuck in. Eventually she’ll go back to normal. But until then, I want to see how far she can go before the reset. This is a good start.
Extremity #11
One of my favorite books from 2017 is coming to a close. The 11th installment of Extremity is part one of a two-part finale with lots of action, last-minute character changes, and a giant fucking eldritch kaiju. It’s pretty amazing, is what I’m saying. There’s a lot of dark nuance to everyone in this book, from Thea’s father trying to not lose his daughter despite that ship sailing ages ago to the bad guys killing the people trying to save them out of fear. It really comes down to fear with this one. Everyone is so damn afraid and they resort to violence because it’s post-apocalyptic and that’s all anyone can remember. It’s so wonderfully bitter and well written.
I’m excited to see this one end, yet sad too. I’ll miss it.
Snotgirl #9
Snotgirl remains Snotgirl. This was another favorite from 2017, and in 2018 I think it’s going to double down on surrealism. Lottie’s hallucinating something fierce, but because there’s some supernatural shit going on, not all of her hallucinations are just hallucinations. It’s captivating stuff, though I’ve said so many nice things about this book that I’m finding it hard to come up with new stuff. It’s just really enjoyable.
Still worth a read, if you haven’t checked it out.
